Bartolomé Bermejo: Master of the Spanish Renaissance, Exhibition, National Gallery, London: 12 June 2019 – 29 September 2019

The exhibition Bartolomé Bermejo: Master of the Spanish Renaissance displays three of his masterpieces, the Madonna of Montserrat, from the cathedral at Acqui Terme in Italy, the Piedad Desplà from Barcelona Cathedral, and the museum’s own painting, Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil, recently restored in order to reveal its original colours and its fascinating details. This is the central panel of a polyptych that was created in 1468 for Antonio Juan from Tous, the client who asked for an artwork to be hung in the Church of Saint Michael.

Bermejo’s style featured a great amount of detail, that can be ascribed  to the Flemish School, especially to the masters Rogier Van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. Bermejo also proved a great three-dimension taste and a very harsh stroke, which he probably learnt from the Italians. Furthermore, his narrative works display a great sense of drama, as you can see on the Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil, and a particular attention to landscapes: look at the Madonna of Montserrat and the Piedad Desplà’s light in the background, and how minutely the painter outlined the landscape.